Frank Savage RIP

Today I had the privilege of attending the traditional Requiem Mass of local member Francis Savage who died earlier this month at the fine old age of 88. Frank was a very gentle man who put Christ at the centre of his life. The Requiem was the first traditional Mass to be offered in the new church at Alwoodley, Leeds. Despite the modern layout the church lent itself very well to the old Rite and the sacristans were very impressed. One lady told me afterwards that the gradual nature of the changes in the sixties had made her forget just how it really had been and it had come flooding back to her - the silent canon had made the biggest impact on her...she could actually focus and pray!

Masses this weekend

Please note that Mgr Smith is away for the next two weeks so no Mass at Halifax for two weeks.

Sunday 12th. January

11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
3.00 p.m. St Peter's, Leeds Road, Laisterdyke, Bradford  (sung)
3.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford. Thanks to Fr. Driver for offering this Mass.

Happy New Year

My first post of the New Year is one with immediate good news. Our old friend Father Richard Aladics who has now returned to the Diocese and is Parish Priest at St. Ignatius, Ossett has with his new parishioners arranged to have the Extraordinary Mass there each last Monday of the month.

Fr. Aladics has written:

I plan to have the Mass on the last Monday of the month at 7.30pm. So, the dates for the first half of next year are:

27th January

24th February

31st March

28th April

26th May

30th June

I am also now finalising details for a conference to be held in February half term which promises to be a very special occasion and the Sacred Triduum. 

Happy New Year and God bless us all. 

Christmas Masses

Masses this Christmas

Christmas Eve

Notre Dame, University of Leeds Catholic Chaplaincy, St. Mark's Avenue, Leeds, 7.00 p.m.

Sacred Heart Chapel, Broughton Hall, Skipton, 11.30 p.m.

Christmas Day

Sacred Heart Chapel, Broughton Hall, Skipton, 11.00 a.m. AND NOT AT 11.30 A.M. AS PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED. My apologies for not noticing this typo before.

I believe in....the resurrection of the body and life everlasting

I believe in purgatory. I value the ability to hear Requiem Masses for the dead and offer up prayers for the dead. I regularly go to Ypres and offer prayers for my great grandfather who fell there in October 1917.
I hold dear the fact that the Church allows the Requiem Mass to be offered on Sunday for those who fell in battle in two world wars and other wars since, fighting the menaces faced by our country.

This weekend:

Saturday 6.00 p.m. St. Mary's, Gibbet Street, Halifax.
Sunday 11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart Chapel, Broughton, Skipton.
             3.00 p.m. St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Laisterdyke, Bradford.
             3.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford.

Thank you

Prayerful thanks to all of those of you who have sent your condolences, Mass intentions, beautiful cards and letters of sympathy, attended the Requiem or assured us of your prayers over recent weeks and days. Mass will be offered for your intentions
It was very good to catch up with people this morning at the Mass at Broughton for the Feast of All Saints. There was a good attendance - I'm always glad to see young families at our Masses and there were a lot of little children at Broughton today.

Masses this weekend:

Masses for the feast of All Souls

Saturday 2nd November - Broughton Hall at 9.00a.m, 10.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m.

Masses for the 4th Sunday after the Epiphany.

Saturday 2nd. November - (Vigil) St. Mary's, Gibbet Street, Halifax at 6.00 p.m.
Sunday   3rd. November - Broughton Hall, near Skipton at 11.00 a.m. (Missa cantata).
                                    - St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford at 3.00 p.m.
                                    - Holy Spirit, Bath Road, Heckmondwike at 4.00 p.m.

During recent weeks there has been Mass at St Austin's, Wakefield - the first of many I hope and plans are now afoot for regular Solemn Masses in the diocese.

Of your charity

Please pray for the repose of the soul of my mother, Carole Christine who died at lunchtime today (Tuesday)  following 72 hours of the most utterly appalling suffering I have ever had to witness and experience. 

I think I am in a state of shock because everybody is telling me it hasn't yet properly "hit me": it cannot have, because after over 4 months of making sure all of my routine has fit in with appointments, trips to consultants, clinics, pharmacies, day centres, radiotherapy recovery sessions, Marie Curie, and more importantly with arranging 24 hour support without a day off myself, I'm now becoming anxious that I shall be unable to think of what to worry about next apart from reporting forthcoming events and serving Mass at a good number of our venues which I have been unable to attend. The last sixteen weeks have been exhausting and I am sorry to have been unable to keep things up to date. 

I shall provide an update on diocesan events soon.

Pentecost XVIII

Holy Masses this weekend for the 18th Sunday of Pentecost are as follows:

Saturday 6.00 p.m. St. Mary's, Gibbet Street, Halifax

Sunday 11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
             3.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford
             4.00 p.m. Holy Spirit, Bath Road, Heckmondwike

Reminder
Mass on Thursday 26th September at Bewerley Grange Chapel, Pateley Bridge. Missa cantata at 6.30 p.m.

Forthcoming event

I have been asked to advertise the following event again, which I am more than happy to do. One of my children enjoyed this event greatly last year.

Book now for the Young Catholic Adults weekend event at Cold Ash Retreat Centre (a couple of miles from Douai Abbey, which was booked up this year).

 *It will be include the following speakers:- Fr Gregory Person OP, Fr Matthew Goddard FSSP  Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP,and Br. Gabriel Wilson O.S.B.
* There will be a Marian Procession, Rosaries, Sung/High Masses, Confession and socials.
* Gregorian Chant Workshops will also be running, this year led by the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge.

How to Book for the retreat

Prices start at £35 per night. For more details/options,  please see:- http://www.youngcatholicadults.co.uk/events.htm for the online booking service:or see the booking form on the events page.

If you have any queries, please ring Margaret on 07515 805015 or Damian on
07908105787.

Mass at Bewerley

I am delighted to announce that we shall be having Mass again at the charming Bewerley Grange Chapel, near Pateley Bridge. The Mass is in honour of Our Lady and will be on Thursday 26th. September at 6.30 p.m. 

Fr. Parfitt has asked my to remind readers that next Sunday the Mass at Broughton (15th September) will be at the earlier time of 10.00 a.m.

First Friday

Tomorrow is the First Friday of the month and there will be two public EF Masses in the diocese:

9.30 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
7.30 p.m. Immaculate Heart of Mary, Harrogate Road, Moortown, Leeds


This weekend marks the Sixteenth Sunday of Pentecost - there are 5 Masses. September 8th is also the Feast of the Nativity of Our Blessed Lady.

Saturday 6.00 p.m. St. Mary's, Gibbet Street, Halifax
Sunday 11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton
              3.00 p.m. St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Bradford (Sung)
              3.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford
              4.00 p.m. Holy Spirit, Bath Road, Heckmondwike (but no Mass next week)

Prayers please

My Mother is now very close to the end of her life on earth and today I received my "final instructions" about various things she wants to happen to her possessions and regarding her funeral. Her ultimate wish is to be buried with our son, who would have been twelve. The aggressive cancer has spread to the major organs of her body. She is in no physical pain, generally conscious but also anxious about what the end will be like. Our daughters have massaged her feet, combed her hair, helped her do things she cannot now do herself and more importantly kept her informed about everything that's been going on in their lives mingled with family gossip.  

Please remember her and us in your prayers.

Thank you.

Our Lady, Morning Star and Refuge in Grief, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

This week

Please accept my apologies for not having published details of the Masses for last Sunday (Pentecost XIV), a domestic family emergency has taken up most of my free time recently.

On Tuesday there will be Mass at Broughton at the usual time of 9.30 a.m. and I have received the following from my colleague in Hallam;
Tuesday 27th August 2013Low Mass (1962 Rite) with hymns
St Theresa's Church, Prince of Wales Road, Sheffield, S2 1EY
Time: 7.30 p.m.

On Saturday there will be Mass at
Notre Dame Chapel. St Mark's Avenue, Leeds at 4.00 p.m. (Vigil)
St. Mary's, Gibbet Street, Halifax at 6.00 p.m. (Vigil)

On Sunday
Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, near Skipton at 11.00 a.m. 
St. Joseph's., Pontefract Road, Castleford at 3.00 p.m. 
No Mass at Heckmondwike this week until next Sunday.

Pentecost XIII

It was lovely to see so many people at Mass at Broughton yesterday for the feast of the Assumption of  Our Lady.

Masses this weekend for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost are as follows:

Saturday - 6.00 p.m. St. Mary's, Gibbet Street, Halifax

Sunday - 11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton

                  3.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford

                  4.00 p.m. Holy Spirit, Bath Road, Heckmondwike

Assumption

Thanks to Fr. Hall for an intriguing and fresh response to today's Gospel, an account of the parable of the Good Samaritan - it provided me with a week's food for thought.

On Thursday we have the obligatory holy day Feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady which is one of our remaining unmoved to the nearest Sunday Feasts.

Mass at Broughton Hall's Sacred Heart near Skipton at 11.00 a.m. and at St. Osmund's, Long Lane, Breightmet, Bolton at 7.30 p.m. in Salford diocese.

On Saturday (17th. November) there will be a sung Mass at Markenfield Hall, near Ripon (HG4 3AD) at 11.00 a.m. The celebrant will be Fr. Ronald Creighton-Jobe Cong. Orat. with Fr. Adrian Convery O.S.B. and other monks as choir from Ampleforth. The Mass will be a Requiem for Sir Thomas Markenfield and other family members who were driven into exile and starvation following the 1569 Rising of the North.

Pentecost XII

This Sunday is the twelfth Sunday of Pentecost - as I already intimated in my last post there will be no Mass at Halifax until next Saturday.

Sunday
11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton.
3.00 p.m. St. Peter's, Leeds Road, Bradford. (Sung Mass)
3.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford.

UPDATE

Due to the parish pilgrimage to Walsingham there will be no Mass at Holy Spirit, Heckmondwike on Sunday 4th August - apologies for not having remembered this sooner.
ALSO - there will be no Mass next Saturday at Halifax as Mgr Smith is unavailable.

Back from holidays

After a week on the continent and a week of doing barely anything I am now feeling refreshed enough to start being sociable again and doing some work - as well as lots more holiday reading.
This weekend is the first of the month and Masses for Pentecost XI are as follows:

Saturday - St. Mary's, Gibbet Street, Halifax, 6.00 p.m.
Sunday - Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton, 11.00 a.m.
                St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford, 3.00 p.m.
                Holy Spirit, Bath Road, Heckmondwike, 4.00 p.m.

Pentecost IX

Mass at Halifax on Saturday resumes tomorrow as Mgr Smith has now returned from Rome and Lourdes.

Masses this weekend:

Saturday
St. Mary's, Gibbet Street, Halifax - 6.00 p.m.
Sunday
Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton - 11.00 a.m.
St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford - 3.00 p.m.
Holy Spirit, Bath Road, Heckmondwike- 4.00 p.m.

I see that one of the worst kept secrets ever has now become official news and that the Oratorians are to take over the parish of St. Wilfrid's in York. The Oratory at Oxford is much too small for the community there and I understand that some of the community are unable to reside in the presbytery (where I have served Mass several times).

It will be interesting to see how this develops and if the York Oratory enjoys the same success as those in Birmingham, Oxford, Manchester and London.

Masses this weekend

At Masses this weekend please remember two of our celebrants who are celebrating 25 years of priestly ministry this week. Fr. Richard Aladics and Fr. Tim Wiley are both good friends to the LMS and on behalf of the Society I should like to extend our very good wishes and prayers to them. Ad multos annos Fathers!

Masses on Sunday:

11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton.
3.00 p.m. St. Peter's, Leeds Rd. Laisterdyke, Bradford. (Sung Mass)
3.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pontefract Rd. Castleford.

Summer cancellations and Masses this weekend

Due to other parish commitments/events there will be no Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary, Moortown this Friday (first in July). ALSO there will be no Masses for the next two Saturdays in Halifax. It has been impossible to find substitute priests this year.

First Friday Mass at Broughton Hall at 9.30 a.m.
Masses for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost this Sunday are as follows:

11.00 a.m. Sacred Heart, Broughton Hall, Skipton (Missa cantata)
3.00 p.m. St. Joseph's, Pontefract Road, Castleford.
4.00 p.m. Holy Spirit, Bath Road, Heckmondwike.